It’s summer time! In addition to picnics, hikes in the woods, and summer parties, it’s the season for food poisoning, insect bites, and hangovers. Your acupuncturist can offer you relief from these, and other, common summer maladies.

There are tried and true point combinations that address acute warm weather symptoms such as skin irritation from poison ivy or poison oak, bee stings, and sunburn. Most involve the use of a point on the hand, whose name is roughly translated as “The Great Eliminator.” Located in the webbing between the thumb and index finger, this is a powerful point for releasing what we call “external pathogens,” irritants that enter our body from an external source (plant, insect, Aunt Bertha’s potato salad) and cause discomfort. This point should NEVER be used if you are pregnant unless you are under the care of a Licensed Acupuncturist.

Your acupuncturist may also use topical herbal ointments or prescribe fast-acting Chinese herbs to quickly move the pathogen through your system and offer you relief. 

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine have been used as the primary health care system for farmers and peasants in China and other eastern countries for over three thousand years. Early acupuncturists had to develop methods for fast, simple, and cost-effective relief so that suffering laborers could return to the fields quickly. These acupuncture treatment protocols and herbal remedies have been handed down through the ages to today’s practitioners. So when you are looking in your first aid box to find summertime relief, don’t forget to call your acupuncturist!